March is Fraud Protection Month, with police agencies and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warning the public about a number of different scams that have been making the rounds.SunMedia

Winnipeg police are reminding citizens they take all fraud complaints seriously, regardless of the hit to your pocketbook — or your pride.

March is Fraud Prevention Month, with police agencies and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warning the public about a number of different scams that have been making the rounds.

While many are not new, they can be successful. It’s estimated that Canadians were bilked out of $95 million through fraudulent activity in 2017, with police suggesting the actual number could be 10 times as much since many attempts go unreported.

The CFAC says less than 5% of fraud is reported to authorities.

What is reported can serve as a warning about particular scam attempts and assist authorities in building a case against fraudsters, police spokesperson Const. Rob Carver said Sunday.

“If there’s been a rash of it, we can send out a public service announcement warning people. If we have enough details of the modus operandi, what they’re doing, the nature of it, we can do a release about how it looks and feels as a warning — don’t be a victim,” he said.

If you’ve been victimized, you’re asked to file a report with CAFC, either online or toll-free at 888-495-8501, and with your local police.

Working against reporting, Carver acknowledges, is a low recovery rate of money lost along with a “huge level of embarrassment.”

“You’ve acted foolish, you know in the back of your mind you shouldn’t have done something but you did, and you’re out money. ‘What’s the upside in reporting it because I’m not getting the money back anyway,’ ” is the thought process, Carver said. “That’s a significant part of the issue.”

Police are restricted to investigating cases occurring in their geographic area as well. And while the local fraud squad has had some success in bringing charges forward, many aren’t inclined to take a long view with their situation.

“A lot of people aren’t looking at progress toward an arrest. They’d just really like their money back,” Carver said.

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